The Chat Room

Shared space and fellowship on Alston Moor

Formal CT meetings have ceased between the churches on Alston Moor - we used to have a banner but no one knows where it has gone or whether it said 'Churches Together...' or 'Christians Together...' now. But that doesn't mean that we don't work well together [or that Churches Together in Cumbria doesn't want to hear your news - Ed!]. We see quite a lot of each other, in fact, and not just on ecumenical occasions like the World Day of Prayer and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, but also to celebrate each other’s special events, too. For instance, Anglicans, Methodists and Roman Catholics were on the bus that went to Andy Morsman’s recent ordination as a Deacon in Newcastle Cathedral. 

We also produce a magazine together called ‘Faith in the Moor’ with its title reflecting the double aim of celebrating that there are many in the area who are loved by God and called to be saints (not just those who attend the local churches or the Quaker Meeting House but also those who belong to fellowships elsewhere such as Weardale, Hexham and Penrith) and also that those very people love where they live and are involved in lots of the other groups that make this a flourishing community.

The Methodists worship in St Wulstan’s, the Roman Catholic Church, and their funerals usually take place in St Augustine’s, the Anglican Church in Alston.  The Vicar of the Anglican Parish of Alston Moor has six churches to look after: three are in Cumbria and three in Northumberland, in the Diocese of Newcastle. The Catholic Parish of St John Boste serves Penrith, Alston, Appleby and Kirkby Stephen and the Methodist Church is part of a wider circuit.

One blessing we are all grateful for is the Chat Room on Front Street, open for a couple of hours every weekday morning, for a cuppa and a chat, but also a very useful venue in a community without any church halls!  Every Thursday there is a Holy Communion Service at midday to which all are welcome. We are very grateful to the married couple who had the vision to set this up. 

Rev Mary Elliot, Supernumerary Methodist Minister